Facebook is used by 90% of B2C marketers and 80% of B2B marketers, for it is suitable for all types of targets. This is likely to be the first platform to develop, for its suitability for all targets, its reach, the many kinds of contents it may convey, and the many kinds of activities it may hold (contests, sweepstakes, polls, etc.).

Once created the brand Facebook fan page, a specific strategy plan has to be crafted explaining the audience segments it wants to reach, the type of contents it wants to work with, the types of conversion or target roles it wants the audience to take through the content’s call to action and measurable marketing goals related to conversion, engagement, reach, etc. Further, the plan should explain the strategies and tactics to optimize its marketing performance. Such strategies and tactics are likely to change over time as long as Facebook keeps on adding new features and tools.

For Facebook, the target roles to engage the audience with should be followers, tourists, contributors, brand ambassadors, partners, employees, clients and volunteers. As aforementioned, the Facebook reach encompasses all types of audiences, though for some specific targets such as financial institutions, potential investors or the government, for which there are other communication tools.

On the other hand, Facebook may support many kinds of content, for it is advisable to take advantage of this potential to deliver many kinds of contents and activities such as videos, photos, text stories, forum discussions, polls, contests, sweepstakes, etc.

Finally, we suggest some strategic guidelines to get the most of your Facebook page:

Short messages stand out, though long messages work when they are compelling, so communicate succinctly unless you really need the extra words.

Create your content in your corporate blog and link to it from Facebook, as you may wish to use this content also for other social media platforms, and not to be too dependent on Fb.

Find out which messages inspire action by measuring fans interaction

Make sure your content is going to be relevant to your intended audience. Be selective.

Facebook ads allow clients to target their audience segmenting by multiple variables: age, language, gender, interests, location, if they are connected or not to the brand, or have friends following the brand, etc.

Use Facebook Page applications to incorporate other social media contents from platforms such as Youtube, Slideshare, Twitter, etc.

Use Facebook Questions to answer queries, ask questions or start polls to help bring up conversations in relation to the destination.

Organise contents and give things away to engage with your audience and encourage them to share your page with their network. Just make sure that you stick within the “Facebook Guidelines when promoting contests”.

Moderate discussions, setting clear rules to abide by and even creating a blocklist of keywords to automatically filter out.

Try to create some kind of ritual that engages the users to interact with the page at least once a week.

Encourage fan content –articles, photo and video- posting to engage them and make them feel part of the brand family.

Make the Facebook page a must visit site for many kinds of information updates and procedures so to stimulate visits and engagement.

Offer special deals to your followers, such as discount stays in the destination, group deals, merchandise product package deals, etc.

Beyond the Facebook page, there are other functionalities that enhance the brand’s marketing performance:

Create also a Facebook Group and invite all visitors to join it. From then you can invite them to events, join conversations and establish a closer relationship.

Use Facebook Connect to allow Facebook users to log into your website through their Facebook profile. This way, when the readers like some of your site’s piece of content, these are displayed on their Facebook newsfeed, and therefore seen by all their friends.

Facebook instant personalisation in your website allows readers to view the content pieces that their friends have liked, which are more likely to engage them.

To monitor the results of the Facebook page you may take advantage of some specific tools:

Facebook insights provides a general view of the fan page activity for every week

Likealizer provides with an audit of the fan page activity

Smetrica analyzes the brand’s presence in the Facebook conversations

Would you consider other target roles, content types or strategy tips?

Posted by Jordi Pera

Jordi Pera is an economist passionate about tourism, strategy, marketing, sustainability, business modelling and open innovation. He has international experience in marketing, intelligence research, strategy planning, business model innovation and lecturing, having developed most of his career in the tourism industry.
Jordi is keen on tackling innovation and strategy challenges that require imagination, entail thoughtful analysis and are to be solved with creative solutions.